By David Sims
Few would deny that Web 2.0 has transformed the Internet. Users, formerly only consumers, are now involved in the creation process by producing and sharing content. And with the growing 2.0 environment, Alcatel-Lucent officials say, mash-ups have become a key factor of the Web success, "mixing existing services and content to build applications."
Few would deny that Web 2.0 has transformed the Internet. Users, formerly only consumers, are now involved in the creation process by producing and sharing content. And with the growing 2.0 environment, Alcatel-Lucent officials say, mash-ups have become a key factor of the Web success, "mixing existing services and content to build applications."
But, Alcatel-Lucent officials say, the current communication architectures "are not suited for the Web and its 2.0 aspects," namely ease of use, creation and sharing. And although many proprietary offerings coexist, "what is still missing is an open communication technology that could naturally be integrated into the Web 2.0's landscape and acknowledge users' preferences and capabilities."
Alcatel-Lucent recommends that communication features should be added to Web pages as simply as Google's Maps are for location information. "Additionally," they say, "publishing personal details such as address, e-mail or phone number is a concern for end-users, due to ever-growing concerns for privacy and security."
The challenge, then, as Alcatel-Lucent officials see it, is to build a communication technology that could be merged into the 2.0 environment and enable a new breed of Web applications. Such a "COM 2.0" concept will address the aforementioned issues while adopting the Web 2.0 properties and benefits.
Alcatel-Lucent officials point out that a first step toward COM 2.0 was achieved with the Communication Hyperlink model, a component of the Hybrid Communications Technology. This model, they say, "guarantees users' privacy control over their communication means. COM 2.0 is now available through our APIs and online services to expose this technology to third parties, allowing them to build mashups by mixing communication features with their business logic."
They note that hybrid communications APIs' key differentiators are that they're accessible - anyone can easily and naturally build Web-based communication applications - and adaptive, in that communication means are adapted to its owner's preferences and capabilities.
